At the end of her ten months in the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, Amne Soud (YES 2014-2015, Tanzania, hosted by AYUSA in Mesa, AZ) returned home inspired and eager to share what she experienced and learned with her friends, family and community. One of the things she learned while on program was the spirit of volunteerism and giving back to the community. This was something Amne wanted to bring back to the people in Dar es Salaam. Since her return, she’s done a number of projects. Now, Amne wants to instill the spirit of community service in others to get more projects started.

Just this month, Amne organized a project where she visited the Tanzania Aviation University College and gave a talk to students and instructors about how volunteerism benefits not just the community, but also the volunteer. From her own experience as an alumna, Amne’s seen the impact volunteer projects can have on a person.

“Volunteering builds patriotism, self-confidence, personal connections, and gives you the ability to appreciate what you have by seeing what others have been missing,” Amne said. “It builds an individual with leadership skills and the ability to live well in society.”

Amne spoke with students at the college on the differences they could be making in their own communities, with the right resources. She gave them information on how to organize activities, fundraising, and even gave some examples of projects that require little to no funding at all.

Getting the community more involved and self-sustaining was the goal for Amne’s talk at the university. She talked about how volunteerism within a community can improve living standards and the environment, encourage peace and harmony, and reduce the rate of government dependence. Amne believes, while YES alumni have a great impact on communities across Tanzania, the people within the communities can provide even more help to one another, especially those in need.

“I know YES alumni cannot solve all the problems within our communities, but what I don’t know is if the communities are aware that a lot of work can be done by the communities themselves,” Amne said. “The people I talked to [at the university] are parents, or will be parents soon. Some are leaders, while others may hold a leadership position in the near future. The more knowledge people have about the power of initiating volunteerism in their communities, the more opportunities there are to help.”

Different projects Amne has been involved in include orphanage visits, tree planting, nursery school renovation, english language tutoring and other informational discussions with community members. Throughout the month of March, she also reached out to people to schedule blood donations. Amne is currently organizing a talk with children ages five to 18 about child abuse and the statistics of disappearing children. Through all of her projects, Amne says she’s learned there’s always something that can be improved, no matter the size of the impact.

“In Tanzania, there are a number of community service [projects] that can be done. Every field and part of living has a gap to be filled. It’s not about what’s been done, but rather about what we can do to help, even if we make only small changes at first.”